Are you sure you know what the sun looks like? If you think this, let me tell you that space science has discovered a new way of recording astronomical images. No, they are not the same fantastic pictures of the sun that we are used to show the sun corona – which previously prevented the bright light of the sun surface from seeing it beforehand.
This opportunity to have access to the corona of the sun has open windows for the examination of various phenomena that could lead to the prevention of solar storms to earth. In this article we will explain how these pictures have happened and how they translate themselves for the future.
Space science research on the sun
It has been impossible for many years to have a clear picture of the sun. Although the telescopes used are advanced technology, they could not prevent the earth's atmosphere from providing what they could grasp.
Don't think this has not been solved. They developed a new advanced technology called adaptive optics (AO). Thanks to this, scientists could see parts of the sun that have never been seen before with so much detail, mainly the corona of the sun.
What kind of corona is that?
It is in the outer part of the sun and consists of a hot, electrically charged gas, the hot plasma.
Since this Korona is the most distant part of the sun, the Korona was the coldest. I'm afraid is not the opposite, it's the hottest!
If we compare it with the sun surface with 6,000 Kelvin, the Corona has more than 1 million Kelvin. This is so incredible that scientists cannot find out why this happens. So they called this phenomenon “coronal warming problem”.
Adaptive optics, the new technology
Although we may have heard of the numerous telescopes that NASA NASA has, for example the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), it wasn't enough for this situation. Scientists therefore used something that they already used with stars, planets and sun surface and adaptive optics technology.
This technology helps to repair distortions through the atmosphere. You may be surprised how it works, you use special mirrors that change your shapes so that you can adapt the image in real time to see it clearly. It is similar to an Instagram filter, somehow …
Phenomena that have never been seen by the earth
Due to this new way to observe parts of the star in more detail, scientists can see what happens more clearly in the corona of the sun.
One of the phenomena they could have seen are coronal rainfall. This happens when the hot plasma gets cold and falls back into the sun surface and follows the lines of the magnetic field of the sun.
Other phenomena are loops that are complex shapes contained in the plasma of the corona and refer to the sun explosions projected on the room – which influence the earth.
Positive aspects for the future
This closer and clear access to the corona of the sun is a way for scientists to examine phenomena such as coronal rains or plasma cructures that make them better understand the sun and prevent solar storm effects on earth.
This may not seem to be an impressive discovery for you if you are not interested in space science, but it really is. The fact that these new images can be a solution for some earth problems is a remarkable discovery for our future.
However, it seems that it apparently does not underestimate any achievements because it can lead to new studies or solutions that can become of great importance in the future. Who knows whether a scientist will use these images or technology to grasp them for something bigger?